Basically, a deuterium lamp assembly has a cathode and an anode arranged within an evacuated glass envelope that contains deuterium gas. During operation, a stream of electrons flows from the cathode toward the anode exciting the gas within to produce light in the ultraviolet range.
The amount of time the deuterium lamp assembly is in operation may be monitored to provide an indication of the remaining life span of the deuterium lamp assembly. To monitor the amount of usage, existing deuterium lamp assemblies have used either mercury or copper coulombmeters. Unfortunately, there are obvious environmental issues with the use of mercury coulombmeters and copper coulombmeters are sensitive to orientation which can effect their proper operation.